Dems sell benefits of health reform

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Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) debuted a health reform calculator House members could put on their websites.
AP Photo

“The idea is, for all of us, being out there explaining to our constituents and the American people what the benefits [are for] them in the short term and the long [term],” said Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Penn.). The White House and congressional Democrats, she says, “are all on the same page on that.”

For many House Democrats, the meeting also served to solidify the administration’s commitment to being a very public spokesperson for a law that could well challenge House members heading into midterm races. “They fully understand the need to get out there,” said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said of the Obama administration. “They took copious notes [on what House members said], but also rolled out how, at specific junctures…a number of things take effect.”

That does not absolve members of playing a very public role as well. While Democratic campaigns have shown a hesitancy in their advertising to take the issue head-on, House members say they plan to assume this responsibility. “One good way to get the information out to the public is to use our megaphones,” said John Spratt (D-S.C.). “The White House has the bully pulpit but we have our megaphones.”

While the White House may have solidified the message on easy-to-sell provisions, House Democrats still had lingering questions about how to best sell such a complex and polarizing law.

“There’s many parts of health reform,” said Rush Holt (D-N.J.). “That’s the good feature and difficult feature of this new law.

Much of the challenge, one representative explains, lies in how much the bill evolved in the reform process. With the law changing between different versions, and still changing as new regulations get written, answering constituent questions can pose a significant challenge.

“You need to know what you’re talking about and this is extremely complex,” said Spratt, who faces a potentially tough re-election race. "It’s really difficult to remember, 'was this in this bill, or was this in the bill Senate side.'"

It's an issue that Spratt and others acknowledge needs to be addressed, likely sooner rather than later.

“Lord knows,” said Spratt, “we have not done the job we need to do communicating it to the people, and that’s what this is all about tonight.”

What a joke. They plan to sell more lies. Republicans tried to warn us about this and it is happening:

Large and small companies across this country have said they probably will drop their employee insurance coverage because it will be cheaper to pay the fine. Obama promised that we would all be able to keep our coverage if we liked it.

Insurance companies have said they must raise the premiums in order to cover 26 year old childeren who will stay on their mommy and daddy's policy.

CBO has issued several reports that increase the costs.

States across the country have issued statements that they cannot afford to cover the new Medicaid patients.

Doctors have warned there will be rationing due to a shortage of medical workers. Many doctors plan to retire.

This is just the beginning of all the bad news about Obamacare. They can try to sell this bad law as much as they want to but Americans won't buy the lies anymore.

Democrats will never understand that true Americans do not want heath care or anything else,if their fellow Americans will be given the bill.And senior citizens do not want to participate in dirty deals,that will saddle their granchildren with enormous debt.They will never understand that there are still many honest people,that take pride in working hard,and self reliance.They will never be able to sell this putrid,nasty law,except to progressives.

It has been said our new health care reform is the biggest social change since FDR. Americans want to know, need to know, what's what. Democrats have an obligation to provide answers. Once the public leans how they are impacted and work with the new system for a time, all will be well.

Not after millions in the middle class realize how much their costs are going to rise it won't.

Saying it's so doesn't make it so. With subsidees for those earning less than $85,000, monthly premiums will be less. Since that's true, and your prediction of an increase is not correct, your conclusion is also not correct.

Add no life time cap, no prior condition exclusion, improvements to Medicare and Medicade, subsidees so small business can again provide group coverage, and Americans will support the changes.

All that's just on a personal level. Throw in the fact that nationally we will realize a substantial deficit reduction from slowing the rate of increase costs and health care reform will be embraced.

Just want to say thanks to the Dems for the rate increase my company is slapping on our new health insurance premiums to cover their new costs. A 45% hike and I am on the hook for 20-25% of it. Gotta love it!!!

thanks to the Dems for the rate increase my company is slapping on our new health insurance premiums to cover their new costs.

You should know more and explain. Some companies have been getting a 25% subsidy and then expensing the entire premium, including the government's share, on year end taxes. New rules stop that. If that's your case, don't blame the government, blame your empoyer.

the CBO has just put out a report that the HC bill will now add 115 billion to our deficit , and the bill hasn't even been on the books a month and the only part of it that has been in effect are the tax increases to the tax payer and it has gone up 115 billion just wait till it really goes into effect how much this disaster will cost us and chairman obama the chimp in chief promised he would VETO any bill that added to our deficit so according to the dear leader he will be VETOING this bill directly

CHAIRMAN OBAMAS CAMPAIGN SLOGAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN

YES , WE CAN .......BUT YOU CANT!!!!

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER .......VOTE OUT THE SOCIALIST MARXIST DEMOCRAT PARTY

Just want to say thanks to the Dems for the rate increase my company is slapping on our new health insurance premiums to cover their new costs. A 45% hike and I am on the hook for 20-25% of it. Gotta love it!!!

Just be thankful their not canceling their employer covered health care like most companies will do because it will be cheaper to pay the fines for not covering employees than it will to cover them, but then again wait 4 years till this disaster is "really working " and you will most likely find your self uninsured

Today CBO provided some additional information about the potential effects of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, Public Law 111-148), on discretionary spending (that is, spending that is funded through the annual appropriation process). This information updates and expands upon the analysis of potential discretionary spending under PPACA that CBO issued on March 15, 2010. By their nature all such potential effects on discretionary spending are subject to future appropriation actions, which could result in greater or smaller costs than the sums authorized by the legislation.

CBO does not have a comprehensive estimate of all of the potential discretionary costs associated with PPACA, but we can provide information on the major components of such costs. Those discretionary costs fall into three general categories:

The costs that will be incurred by federal agencies to implement the new policies established by PPACA, such as administrative expenses for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service for carrying out key requirements of the legislation. Explicit authorizations for future appropriations for a variety of grant and other program spending for which the act identifies the specific funding levels it envisions for one or more years. (Such cases include provisions where a specified funding level is authorized for an initial year along with the authorization of such sums as may be necessary for continued funding in subsequent years.) Explicit authorizations for future appropriations for a variety of grant and other program spending for which no specific funding levels are identified in the legislation. That type of provision generally includes legislative language that authorizes the appropriation of “such sums as may be necessary,” often for a particular period of time.

CBO estimates that total authorized costs in the first two categories probably exceed $115 billion over the 2010-2019 period. We do not have an estimate of the potential costs of authorizations in the third category.

CBO previously issued an estimate of the direct spending and revenue effects of PPACA, in combination with the Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152), which amended it. (Direct spending effects are those that do not require subsequent appropriation action.) CBO estimated that those two laws, in combination, would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $143 billion over the 2010-2019 period as a result of changes in direct spending and revenues.

Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections. This is because Pelosi and fellow Marauders sent erroneous and bogus data to the office of the CBO less than 72 hours before they sold the American people down the drain on March 21, 2010. They and Obama had to lie their way through this whole monstrosity..from start to its deadly finish.

The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to over $1 trillion.

In this Regime's deliberate effort to destroy everything we cherish in a vibrant and free Democracy.......the "ELECTORATE" in this country would have to have permanent amnesia to not remember what this wanton, corrupt and partisan Congress did to the American people (all 305+ million of us) on March 21, 2010. They all lied...repeatedly....and executed corrupt bargains (with tax-payer money) for an unconstitutional sham they unashamedly call HCR.

Saying it's so doesn't make it so. With subsidees for those earning less than $85,000, monthly premiums will be less. Since that's true, and your prediction of an increase is not correct, your conclusion is also not correct.

Add no life time cap, no prior condition exclusion, improvements to Medicare and Medicade, subsidees so small business can again provide group coverage, and Americans will support the changes.

All that's just on a personal level. Throw in the fact that nationally we will realize a substantial deficit reduction from slowing the rate of increase costs and health care reform will be embraced.

These are just the democrat talking points they used to ram this through. The implementation will show that like all government entitilements it will be FAR COSTLIER than advertised. Remember it was say anything, do anything to get this passed. the Democrats talking pointing is if we dont get this passed we will all be thrown out of office. they even lied to their own people. So why should we believe a word of what any of you guys say? Look where social security and medicare are and this bill did nothing to strengthen them. The Democrats are on a hellbent course of action to turn us into the next Greece. The only answer is REPEAL and replace with sensible legislation that REDUCES the cost of healthcare not raises it.

The Obama administration Tuesday night gave more shape to its health reform selling strategy: Focus on the early roll-out of tangible benefits and, if all goes as planned, win over a skeptical public more than any argument ever could.

After a year and a half of trying to sell this and failing, they rammed it down our throat against public opinion and logic. Now they think if they can just indoctrinate us like good little commies, people are going to suddenly approve. I swear everything out of this administration is right out of the Communist Manifesto. The arrogance of this administration is appalling.

What part are they trying to sell ? The more we hear the worse it gets. Will they tell their constituants how they hid the price that we all were aware of ? Will they tout that we can keep what we have, when companies have already said it would be cheaper to pay a fine ? No...More lies to sell what we do not want.

The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to over $1 trillion.

And most of that is paid for through spending cuts and increased taxes. Did you think we were going to be able to do anything with health care, medicare, or social security without those?

LeeMac: May. 12, 2010 - 8:58 AM EST

.the "ELECTORATE" in this country would have to have permanent amnesia to not remember what this wanton, corrupt and partisan Congress did to the American people (all 305+ million of us) on March 21, 2010

They seemed to forget about the Republican health care bill from the 1990s that had many of the provisions the dem one does, including the mandate.

Just want to say thanks to the Dems for the rate increase my company is slapping on our new health insurance premiums to cover their new costs. A 45% hike and I am on the hook for 20-25% of it. Gotta love it!!!

It is also true that accounting rules require that the present value of the entire additional tax that companies will have to pay over the next several decades be put on the books now. That led AT&T to declare a charge of about $1 billion in the first quarter of 2010 and Verizon to declare $970 million.

Those look like staggering amounts until one understands that they don’t require any immediate cash payments and that the added taxes will be paid out slowly — over perhaps 30, 40 or more years, depending on a company’s retiree plan.

Wall Street certainly gave a collective yawn. Stock prices for the companies that made announcements barely budged (some went up), and analysts urged investors not to overreact because the accounting change would have a negligible impact on these companies’ valuation, or market capitalization.

For every $100 the company spends on retiree drug benefits, Medicare sends it a subsidy payment of $28. On top of that, the companies got a rare double tax break. The $28 subsidy is tax-free, and the company was allowed to deduct the entire $100 as a business expense.

The new health care reform law has left the 28 percent subsidy intact and continued to exempt it from taxation. But companies will no longer be allowed to deduct the subsidy as if it were an expenditure of their own.

It has been said our new health care reform is the biggest social change since FDR. Americans want to know, need to know, what's what. Democrats have an obligation to provide answers. Once the public leans how they are impacted and work with the new system for a time, all will be well.

OMG ! Can you all imagine how plucky it is of Michel to insert himself / herself into this thread today...trying to explain to us the glorious wonders of Obama's ultimate control over our "health?" And how lofty can Michel get...floating around up there in the clouds.

Americans don't need to know what's what with this monstrous piece of unconsititutional trash. We already knew enough about the thing before they forced it on us....against the will of the American people. What we did know about it before was terrifying enough for 67% of the American electorate to be fiercly opposed to it.

But of course we should have been sufficiently placated when Pelosi told us they had to pass the "bill" before we could "understand" what was in the bill. (all 4700 pages) How condescending can that wretch be? The swindling fraud that Pelosi, Reid and Obama forced down our throats....no matter how strongly we opposed it...These people deserve to be in prison for what they have done to us.